Learning from respected scholars is legitimate; treating every disputed opinion of a predecessor as beyond review is different. When a human interpretation is promoted to the status of an unqualified divine ruling, the boundary between revelation and commentary disappears.
Sound method respects scholarship while asking which text supports a conclusion, how clearly it does so, and how substantial counter-evidence is addressed. The authority of an individual is not a substitute for the reasoning needed to establish a claim.
The historical critique here targets excessive partisanship and unquestioned attachment to inherited views, not the practice of studying with or honoring teachers.